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Wednesday, 16 February 2011

Review: My Soul To Take (Soul Screamers Book 1) by Rachel Vincent

She doesn't see dead people, but...
She senses when someone near her is about to die. And when that happens, a force beyond her control compels her to scream bloody murder. Literally.
Kaylee just wants to enjoy having caught the attention of the hottest guy in school. But a normal date is hard to come by when Nash seems to know more about the need to scream than she does. And when classmates start dropping dead for no apparent reason, only Kaylee knows who'll be next...

Oh wow, this book doesn’t beat around the bush. It grabs you, hauls you in, and doesn’t let you go. It’s one of the most tense and exhilarating books I’ve read for a while, and it’s brilliant.

It was great to find a fantasy book that not only doesn’t feature vampires/werewolves/zombies/ghosts and instead utilises another myth, but also to find one where yes the characters have functioned in different social circles so haven’t really interacted before now, but they’re not new to town! YAY! Sorry, if there’s one thing guaranteed to peeve me within the first few chapters, it’s finding out that someone mysterious is new to town. There’s been an influx of those lately.

So this book is already in my good graces just on those two points alone. Add to that the brilliance of Vincent’s writing and I’ve struck gold. It isn’t the most technically brilliant book, or the sort where the prose will stay with me long after I’ve finished reading. Instead it’s a high adrenaline race against time (and sanity) that gets your pulse racing, and ups the stakes at each turn. It did end up feeling a little rushed, so I’m interested to see how the story progresses in the sequel.

Kaylee was really likeable and relatable – despite the fact that she’s not human. And Nash – sigh, he is dreamy! I love the revelation about Tod towards the end of the book, and I’m looking forward to finding out more about him. I want to find out more about all of them, but I think we were left with more questions about Tod than any of the other characters. Also, he’s yummy. That’s enough to get me intrigued, add to that the humour and reaper qualities, and I’m sold.

The only downside was that I felt there was a lot of build-up, and more to come, yet the book was suddenly over. I know this is only the first book in the series, so a lot of the issues will probably be solved over the course of the next few books, but it just felt like the payoff wasn’t all there. Don’t get me wrong, I loved it, and I loved the build-up, I just felt a little bit let down when I’d finished. Which I suppose is partly a good thing, as I’ve already ordered the second book.

Overall this was a brilliant book. It took a fresh approach to fantasy and myths, had some really relatable and yummy characters, and a very compelling story. If you haven’t already read Rachel Vincent’s work, go out and get this – it’s a great foray into the fantasy genre, that makes everything seem fresh and exciting, instead of the worn rehashed plots you so often find.

If you like Cassandra Clare, Holly Black or Sarah Rees Brennan’s books, you love Rachel Vincent.